Incredible Shadows 3 - Hero Disrupted
by eisceire
Summary: Mr Parr is having personal problems. Mr Incredible is having a meltdown. The town takes the fallout. Hero or villain, which will he be? O/C


_**AUTHOR NOTE »»» Fear not! The story has a start, a middle, an end and all in the right order. It's even complete. Gentle Reader; you can take all of this tale (and all of it in one hit too) and it'll stand up for itself, all by itself. It does better in company though. Read the rest of Incredible Shadows and, even, Metroville Two-Step; if you want to add depth to each piece and add them all together for a bigger story.**_

It was such a bad, bad time to be a criminal in Metroville. Mr Incredible was omnipresent, intransigent, unsleeping, unrelenting; whatever it was that had gone awry in his personal existence it was being visited on the 'Ville's villains with a vicious vengeance. He was smashing, bashing, trashing, crashing and crushing his way through most of the crime and much of the criminals, all across the city. Had Syndrome survived and started over? Had Mirage mutated into a major menace? Had Frozone turned foe? Indeed it was not so; for Mr Incredible faced a far worse fate than any of those ... the builders were in.

Violet had thrown a teenage, temper tantrum and thrown her powers into the mix; all because the press had tagged her as Bubbles, not Invisigirl or Incredigirl. She'd trashed the house and that didn't mean a few tossed tumblers; she'd nearly brought the walls down ... all of which had to stay hidden from just about everybody. Once the government got to thinking that Supers could run amok they'd be swallowed up faster than Irish Mist down an alcoholic's throat — just great! What did she want from him? The Agency had wanted to relocate them, after the Insuricare and Syndrome episodes, but he'd dug his heels in and bought the family stability. He'd bought it at the cost of his own dignity; just so their family didn't seem too Incredi-like he had to be Bobbo the blobbo in civilian life. Did you see him losing the plot, blowing up buildings or turning into a killer Super? He certainly did not; it was high time that daughter of his started listening to him and following his example, fumed Mr Incredible Parr. The very same Mr Incredible burrowed his furious hands into the frontage of the crooked hideaway he was assaulting; overwrought and supercharged he managed to rip away and raise the entire mass of masonry ... to send it hurtling onto the highway and hospitalising, for sure, all of the crooks who'd still been clinging to it. No rush at all to call in the cops, none of these guys were going anywhere anytime soon but he himself certainly had to be away. He bounded up from the sidewalk: to soar upwards and onwards his boot heels biting into the bitumen, cratering it with the force of his fury. He had to get home and get home right now before the volcano boiling inside of him went from simmering to explosive and he went that one step to far. It was a miracle that he could still sense the slippage into that point of no return and still step back from it. He'd done nothing devastating as of yet, he was sure of it, which was more than Violet could say and she wasn't living with a bedmate who had turned off the conjugal taps.

It was a most dangerous game of brinkmanship that Mr Incredible was playing; made all the more so, in that he most often patrolled alone, with nobody to recall him to himself. When others of The Incredibles shared patrol times with him they typically split the town between them, with Mr Incredible taking one half while they took the other half. Increasingly he was discouraging anybody else to be out alongside himself at all, however remotely, and every day of the week seemed to fall into the same fatal framework: a day of derring do, but distracted and derailed by the demons dancing in his skull, till the daily crusade crescendoed; culminated in some near knuckle escapade he had to escape from before he crossed the line. He'd turned a building into a dollhouse on Monday and it hadn't got better in the days following.

«_Zzzt ... Break In at Lakeside Bank; Bridge under criminal control; Police unable to attend; Supers requested_.» Mr Incredible was on the incident in almost an instant, only, once on the site, there wasn't the least vestige of any villainy to be seen ... not till he'd seen the scene across the lake; at the Lakeside Link Bank! A minor miscommunication had become a major obstacle; whatever else he was, he was no long jumper and there was no way he was going to be able to vault that puddle. Frozone would have to shoot an ice bridge across the water but there was no Frozone; he was fishing other waters these days — as soon as heroes had become legal again he'd taken his hero into business: «_What can I say Bob; I'm doing good, firing up my cool ice and saving the world; got me my own firm: Zero Zone, freezing out that evil ol' pollution. Its legal, its legit; its megabucks and my Honey be happy I'm not playing that hero riff no more. Getting me all the honey I want at home these days, know what I'm saying_.» Oh yes, Mr Incredible knew what Frozone was saying; the guy had sold out, split from his side ... sure they were still friends, buddies, pals but not, so much, partners. Just great, he'd have to do it all himself; who needed partners anyway, thought Mr Incredible ... as he snatched up a civic statue and hurled it hurtling across the lake. Wayne Bruscar, famous batsman, bowled into the bullion van as it boosted along the strand, splitting it asunder in the instant before it was blasted through the wall of a wine shop. Whatever was left of the miscreants Mr Incredible figured the ambulance guys could scrape up; he was for home before he did any worse.

«_Zzzt ... Break Out at State Penitentiary. Inmates in control. All staff safely evacuated. Authorities unable to regain access. Supers requested_.» Mr Incredible arrived on site as speedily as his supercar could cover the countryside and was being briefed in no time at all: «_There has been a significant rise in the influx of detainees over recent weeks that has impaired our screening procedures so that numbers of inmates were admitted without being sanitised of weaponry. Furthermore, a Supervillain was incarcerated without our awareness. With Firedrake inside, in addition to their guns, they have sufficient firepower to keep us at a distance_.» Just great, muttered Mr Incredible, inside of his head, now its my fault for catching too many criminals; doing my job too well am I? Maybe I should cut back, I could ration myself; yeh, why not let everybody go free on even numbered days! We could do a family deal: Violet is wild enough these days, she could kill them off and I'd let them off; why not, seems they don't like how I'm doing things now. If I'm not right for the job they should get in some of the other Supers; oh, I forgot, Syndrome killed them all off. Looks like I'm all they've got; see how they like this trick then. With that Mr Incredible lapped the building; coming round to the fields at the back where power pylons loped across the plains. Seizing one and ensuring it kept connected to the cables and the current he caber tossed it onto the steel cage-top of the exercise yard. Metal connected to metal, cage to balconies, to bars, doors and walkways. Electricity raced and ripped and roared through the interlocking maze of metalwork, felling inmates everywhere it flew and flowed. Whatever about the condition of the inmates the prison was tamed and if the authorities didn't like how he'd done it then they could do the job themselves; he was gone.

«_Zzzt ... Break Down at Zoo. Marine World Passengers Trapped in Underwater Trains. Supers requested._» Mr Incredible was less than lightning in response to the request; he couldn't see the problem and could hardly bring himself to care anyway. It was a new ride and not one he'd taken the family on yet, not the way family feelings were right now, so it was a while before he was clued in: «_We've two Marine Worlds, Arctic and Tropic. Trains run under the water in transparent tunnels. Its all automated but a jolt in the electricity grid yesterday disrupted the systems. Trains are stopped and locked inside at both tunnels. Climate control is off so the passengers will either boil or freeze and there is no air supply_,» Mr Incredible only just clipped out a civil reply, as his head buzzed with that this was his fault too; fine! He'd get those trains out in double quick time then maybe everyone would be off his back. Mr Incredible sped to the tunnel-end and wrenched open the doors, gasping as a scirocco of stale air engulfed him but he didn't waste a moment in making it to the other end of the tunnel and wrenching apart those doors too. He put his palms to the train end and pushed; sending the entire equipage squealing, jolting, jouncing, along the track and out the far doorway ... so what if it was a rough ride, they should just be grateful they'd been rescued at all and never mind the odd whiplash or broken bone — he still had a whole other tunnel to see to. He hadn't, as it turned out ... for the entrance to the Arctic Odyssey was already crowded with crowds being covered up, warmed up and healed up by waiting medics; the tunnel doors had been sliced, neatly, open and the train, somehow, emptied of all the occupants in the time it'd taken him to rough-hand his rolling stock through. Baffled, Mr Incredible elicited an explanation: «_It was that new Super, the young girl, the one with the light show; she turned up, just as you were pushing the other train through, and got her own rescue going. Lucky we have so many superheroes around; you must be glad that she saved you half the work._» Mr Incredible only nodded before spurting off; a stoic hero, his mission accomplished. An irate, incandescent and indignant superhero; one who was scared to open his mouth, he was raging that much. He! Mr Incredible! He'd been upstaged, out-rescued by some junior, Judy-come-lately who'd dared, Dared to make a better save of it than him and hadn't so much as marked his presence ... the arrogance of her. Just great, if that was the respect he got he'd like to see how they did without a Mr Incredible!

«_Zzzt ... Fugitive Seen. Escaped Supervillain Firedrake reported at Trainyard. Superhero Response Requested_.» Oh Yes! Mr Incredible exulted as he accelerated to the Trainyard; this was just made for him: a good, old fashioned, showdown, slugfest; he'd let out his feelings, all over Firedrake, and make the guy wish he'd never left prison. But: _«Zzzt ... Fugitive apprehended. Firedrake Reincarcerated. Respondent: the new kid on the block, that Glow Girl._»

«_Zzzt ... Fire at Mullingar Mansions. Over Ten People Trapped. Firefighters Unable to Enter. Supers Requested_.» Mr Incredible ground his teeth, this was nothing like what he wanted, he hated fires and he could hardly cut loose there. It was important though; people were in direct peril and the hero in him hadn't died so far that he could ignore their need. What if he was going a shade slower than when he'd been heading to the Trainyard? the roads were busier here, that was all. The sight of the fire set him aglow though, the distant gleam of flames sparked up his adrenalin, reminded him how good it felt to save someone's life; he hit the gas, hard. Then: «_Zzzt ... Fire Alert Downgraded. All Occupants Safely Evacuated. Respondent: the Rainbow Miss._

«_Zzzt ... Party Boat Sinking on Lake. Has Hit Uncharted Rubble. Rescue Required._» Mr Incredible winced; this was so embarrassing. He really would have to put on a good show for this one; beat the clock there; bring all the boat-folk back to safety before they'd even taken a breath. He'd a nasty idea what that rubble was; he really ought to have stuck around for the clear-up the other day, after beating down those bank robbers with a chunk of civic pride. Yet, the old enthusiasm and commitment just weren't there any more, though. Whatever about that; he'd better get back on the game for this though, he knew it. Only: «_Zzzt ... Damaged Boat and All Aboard Safely in Harbour. Respondent: that shimmering, new Super __femme_.»

«_Zzzt ... Syndrome Alert. Robot Parts Reanimating at State Penitentiary. Superhero Response Requested._» Mr Incredible nearly snarled; the patrol was a fiasco: that Judy-come-lately, Junebug, herogirl had jumped the gun on him every single time; left every case wrapped-up and parcelled away, long before he'd a chance to get there. Now he had to book all the way out to the State Penitentiary just because that stupid, improvised taser he'd used on the prison breakout had kickstarted Syndrome's old monster. Only: «_Zzzt ... State Penitentiary Secure. Robot Parts Deactivated. Respondent: that fresh Lightshow Lass_.»

Mr Incredible gave a terrifying grin; lately he'd really gotten to know how the world looked to Buddy Pine, to Syndrome. He could hardly remember the last time his wife had welcomed his with open arms. Whenever and however he did good on a save he was seeing more and more sour looks. This week, today, had been the lowest: busting a gut from pillar to post and back; as good as begging people to let him help them; finding himself second string to this latest spandex wonder. Lightshow Lass, Rainbow Miss, Glowing Girl, Shimmer, whoever the devil she was, was way out in the boondocks, though ... the town was His!


End file.
